


Maelstrom of Emotion

by Ginger Jam (skylite)



Category: Steven Universe - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-17
Updated: 2015-06-17
Packaged: 2018-04-04 18:46:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4148805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skylite/pseuds/Ginger%20Jam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story takes place right after Garnet talks to Steven and tells him about the past in "Sworn to the Sword", but before the episode's end.</p><p>Garnet's mind is in turmoil due to recent events.   A meditative few moments in her temple chamber may help her remember what's important.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Maelstrom of Emotion

Garnet lifted her hands, and concentrated. Two points on the star emblazoned on the temple door glowed: the red, for Ruby. The blue, for Sapphire. The corresponding gems on Garnet's hands glowed in resonance. A thin beam of light appeared at the top of the door, outlined the star, and then continued to the floor before the doors slid open in response to her gestured command.

Ruby and Sapphire were almost always content to remain together as Garnet -- there was nothing closer for them than the fusion. But occasionally their personalities reacted so strongly to something that the temptation to split and be two gems became something Garnet grit her teeth and rode out. She paced her chamber in long, floor-eating strides, feet noisless on the floor. There were divots taken out of the wall from moments where Ruby's rage had been too much for the fusion to ride out without blowing off a little steam, but tonight Sapphire's harmonious calmness was holding steady --for the moment -- against the anger bubbling up in Garnet's double sized heart. 

Tonight was one of those rare and uncomfortable nights that tested the bond of the fusion.

Steven and Connie had returned home from the warp pad, arm in arm, full of youthful human energy, babbling excitedly about Connie's sword lessons, and Steven having to play catch up. Garnet had smiled at that. It filled her with joy to see the two of them together, happy.

When Steven had looked up at her and Amethyst hours earlier with those scared, lost eyes, she had seen what he feared -- Pearl's overzealousness pushing Connie into a place no human child, and few adults, were ready for.

The violet eye had seen the possibilities: letting Steven go on wondering and hesitating about speaking to Connie, vs hearing the truth about Pearl's chivalrous passions. Garnet had, with Sapphire's gentleness tempering Ruby's bluntness, explained to Steven about Pearl's pointless and useless insistence on throwing herself between Rose Quartz and danger. It had been tough to tell the story calmly because although Sapphire understood love drove the thin gem, Ruby saw red with rage just thinking about it because Pearl was simply just not cut out for fighting, let alone fighting an enemy that posed a threat to Rose -- but Pearl simply refused to accept the truth of it, and paid the price for her own blindness over and over. What was the point of living for someone only to die for them over and over, and make them watch it happen?!

It had been millennia since the last time Garnet had had to take this frustrating and troublesome tendency of the white gem into consideration. But now, in light of Pearl having chosen to train Connie in the art of the blade -- it was all seeping through the cracks in Pearl's psyche, coming back to the surface again. 

It had worked out all right in the end, though, because Steven was Steven and, when it came down to it -- he was his mother's son. He possessed her sensitive spirit and her compassionate heart, even in his thus-far tiny human lifespan. He always made the choice that resonated with his gem -- with love. And he was growing, learning so quickly. It had only been a few months since she'd even told him that her third eye could see the future; and in typical Steven fashion, he'd become carried away to the point of distraction with the concept, giving his emotions free rein over his mind. Garnet had, for a time, regretted sharing this with him -- until Steven finally managed to embrace the concept. 

By the time winter had come, Steven had matured enough that Garnet was willing to trust him with a taste of the gift, and her trust had not been misplaced. He had made the right choice then, after being able to see what the wrong ones would cause.

Spring had come around again, and with it, fear that Garnet didn't ordinarily experience. Following Steven's choices, guided upon consideration of her precognition, they had found Peridot; and discovered that the Homeworld gems had planned to return to Earth and finish what they'd begun. 

The moment that Garnet convinced Stephen to take his Cheeseburger backpack and go with Greg as Beach City was evacuated, her violet third eye had told her that Steven returning to fight alongside the Gems was a possibility. Out of respect for Rose and protectiveness of the precious boy, Garnet had not allowed herself to consider it, so it had been a shock to see him arrive on the beach on the back of the lion his mother had left him. Like his mother, he couldn't stand to see those he loves endangered, and couldn't let them fight if he could help guard them behind her shield. 

The anger flowed away briefly like a tide going out to sea as Garnet reflected on their close call -- how Steven had freed Ruby and Sapphire so they could reunite and fuse back into Garnet again, and had only wondered if he'd made a good impression on them. It was without an ounce of hesitation that he accepted Garnet bestowing her third eye's vision on him again so he could free Amethyst and Pearl and work out a method to get them back to Earth.

Unfortunately, as much as Steven seemed to be growing and blossoming like the Rose his mother was, the more Pearl seemed to be regressing. That was the problem. Pearl had reacted poorly to Steven knowing some of Rose's secrets -- as if Rose would keep secrets from her own son. As if she could. The gem united them at a level beyond words, beyond thoughts. Steven probably hadn't even scratched the surface of things Rose knew and wanted him to know. 

And now, Pearl was -- WHAM! -- the summoned gauntlet chipped another divot in the wall as Ruby growled inside Garnet's soul. Pearl was going back to the idea that out of love for Rose, and in comparison, her life was worthless. Worse, she had begun passing that philosophy on to Connie! 

The Maheswaran girl was a good friend to Steven, and Garnet was proud of how close the two of them got. They reminded her of her inner selves, particularly when fused. Who was Pearl to put Connie at risk that way? Who was Pearl to threaten their relationship? Who was she to put at risk their fusion? 

WHAM! Pearl only fused with Amethyst most days, and Opal was unstable because the two personalities were so disparate and at odds. Without Rose, they could not form the great fusion that adorned the hillside into which the temple was built. 

Sapphire understood Pearl's frustration, and her grief at not having something that she alone shared with Rose, but had no answer to offer for what to do about it. She understood the devotion of course. Even Ruby had to admit she understood that. The desire above all else to see the most beloved safe from harm. But Rose was gone now, and all the Gems protected Steven -- including Steven, who was learning faster every day how to protect himself and others.

Garnet settled beside one of the waterfalls in the temple, listening to the rush of water, and letting it soothe away her seethe. Being the leader was difficult. Pearl's emotions often got the best of her despite her pride in thought, logic, planning and strategy. Amethyst's hot head and origins caused her to fire off half-cocked more often than not. Although the third eye saw futures, it didn't see every future in every case. Sometimes things were too disparate for her to get a clear view, and other times, things were so emotionally wrought that they blotted out any other rivulets of the timestream.

Conversation, Garnet mused, would do little good. Garnet had thousands of years of experience already trying to talk Pearl down from when she got all wound up over Rose, lost in missing her, steeped in resentment that she'd chosen to leave and bring a weak half-human child into the world; a gem-human hybrid who Pearl loved in spite of the strength of the other two feelings. 

Steven seemed to get through to her best, but Garnet couldn't help but worry. Pearl's maelstrom heart was constantly at war. Which would win in the end? Love for Steven? Love for Rose? The conflation of love between Rose and Steven? The resentment? Garnet dreaded that last one nearly as much as Jasper coming back from the sea having defeated Lapis Lazuli. Pearl was the most motherly and protective when she wasn't overcome with missing Rose or resenting her departure. But she was cruel, bordering on vicious, when she resented Rose's loss. She was even selfish to the point of hurting Steven, who bravely endured it because he knew Pearl's lashing out came from a place of pain and grief. For an eleven year old raised by aliens mostly unfamiliar with the human condition, he was naturally perceptive. Connie's presence helped with that. They were strong together. 

I will not let Pearl hurt him, came the thought. Either of them. That was Ruby and Sapphire, coming around again, from the extremes of their emotions to harmoniously agreeing again. If it took sending Pearl back to her gem to think about what she'd done, like a human mother with a child, then that might very well be what it took if all else failed.

But, Garnet allowed to herself, a smile finally returning to her lips, perhaps extreme and drastic measures might not be necessary. 

Steven is not Rose, but he is her son as much as he is his own person. she decided, and glided smoothly to her feet. I just need to believe in Steven.

\--end--

**Author's Note:**

> [Thorns of a Dilemma](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4155828) also deals with the events of "Sworn to the Sword".


End file.
